by Carolyn Burge

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Monthly Archives: June 2014

Family Dedications happen several times a year at our church. We hold this event on Saturdays from 4-5pm. Here’s what we do:

Dedication Service – We hold a 30 minute service where the dedication ceremony takes place. We have live music, video, & a talk from our lead pastor about parenting. This is also the time in the event where families who are participating come to the front, and make their commitment to raise their child to follow Jesus and grow in a relationship with Him. This service is family friendly. There are a lot of young children, so it’s not really a quiet event. I have preschool packages ready for children to pick up on their way in. This includes coloring pages (all about families of course), a pack of 4 crayons, stickers, goldfish and pipe cleaners to play with.

Reception – After the service, we have cake for everyone. We create an atmosphere for families to chat with their friends and family, and to get to know other families with children.

Excellence is found in the details. We want our families to feel like they have come to a first class event. Here are a few things that we include in every event:

Decorations – tablecloths & fancy decor as much as your budget will allow.

Food – we try to do a great job of this, so a 3 tier cake it is!

Frames – Each child receives a Frame that has been personalized with their name, photo, the date of the event, & the Bible verse that their parent’s chose for them.

Blessings Booklets – We hand make a Blessings Booklet for each child. Friends and family can write a prayer, poem, or special message for the child. Great keepsake.

Professional Photographer – We book someone to take photos of the event as well as family portraits. After the event, families can download these pics for free.

The following Sunday – We want the church to partner with these families as they raise their children. Because we have 4 services on a Sunday morning, we video the Dedication Event, and then show a 2-3 minute video of the families at the Dedication Event.

If you have any questions about how we run our event, feel free to comment below.

Do you run a summer program for kids? Do you stay in touch with those kids throughout the year?

Each year we have a summer program for kids called EPIC. We take a photo of each group & save it for later.

Then, in December, we mail the kids a Christmas card with a picture of their group. We include dates of our Christmas events at our church, as well as the next summer camp’s dates. It’s a great way to let them know we are thinking about them, and we would love to see them again.

Kids Kount Publishing has created some videos to help train Kids Ministry Staff & Volunteers. Each video is 3 minutes or less, and is available online for free. No subscription, so signing up…just click on the video & press play! Here are some of the topics they cover:

Lead Yourself

Understanding Preschoolers

Understanding Grade Schoolers

Understanding Preteens

Tips for Directors, Leaders & Coaches

Skill training for Large Group Teachers & Small Group Leaders

Puppeteering

Welcome Team

Kids Ministry Space

Each of these sections has several videos to choose from. Forward the link to your volunteers & help them sharpen their skills by watching these training videos online.

When I went to visit Church in the Son in Orlando, I saw this volunteer badge. I thought it was a great idea to assign someone the official position of RUNNER. This person could get more supplies, or go page a parent, or ‘run’ to get what ever was needed. This could be a great job for an older child or teenager. Finding ways to involve kids teaches them the importance of serving, and they don’t need to be an adult before they can serve.

Summer is a challenging time to find enough people to help in Kids Ministry. Many people take some well deserved time off so it can be difficult to put people on the schedule when it works best for them. I have found the most success when I let them choose their own dates. To do that, I use a Google Document. You can create a spreadsheet right in Google Docs that you can share with people. A Google Document allows you to share the info with everyone who has the link. The document is always up to date, and people can see what weeks have enough volunteers and what weeks still need help. It allows people to sign up for dates that work with their schedule.

Here’s what I do:

#1. Set up the document – Create a spreadsheet with all the rooms, dates & services. I create one document with separate tabs (sheets) on the bottom for each room.

#2. Share the document – You will need to edit the settings to “everyone can edit”.

#3. Email all your current volunteers – Send them the link to the document, and ask them to add their name to the dates/times that they would be available to help.

#4. Email all your parents – Summer is a great time to ask them to help for one or two Sundays. They are not signing up for an ongoing basis, but they are probably willing to help once or twice when they are around.

#5. Send reminders – Each week I send a reminder for people to sign up to help. I do this for about 4 weeks prior to the summer.

#6. Send more reminders – During the summer, I will email everyone who is scheduled for the following Sunday. I’ll send the reminder email on Mondays.